When you have a photo like this one, in which some of the areas are toodark and some too light, the shadows highlightsadjustment is the best tool to reach for.Shadows highlights works particularly well with a photo like this that's back lit.In other words, where the light source is coming from behind the subject.Now, unfortunately, there is no shadows highlights adjustment layer.You have to apply this adjustment directly to the photo.So just to protect the original photo,I'm first going to make a copy of the background layer that contains the photo.And I'll apply this direct adjustment on the copy.

So I'll right click on that Background layerand I'll choose Duplicate layer and click OK.And then with the Background Copy layer selected, I'll goup to the Enhance menu, and down to Adjust Lighting.And finally, there I find the Shadows Highlights Adjustment.Clicking that, opens this dialogue box withits settings at their defaults.And just the default settings have had a positive effect on this image.If I uncheck Preview.That reminds us what the photo lookedlike without the Default Shadows Highlights Adjustments.And here's how it looks with them.

Basically what's happened is, that this feature has lightened the shadowareas but had very little effect on the bright highlight areas.I think this photo might look good with even lighter shadows,so I'm going to take the Lighten Shadows slider and drag it over to the right.And as I do, you can see that the building isgetting lighter, but there is not much effect on the bright clouds.Now, I can darken down the highlights in the clouds without having mucheffect on the building by dragging thedarken highlights slider over to the right.And as a tool tip says this is agood thing to do to correct back lighting problems.

And as I do that, you can see that the clouds are getting darker.And we can see more detail. And we have less blown out highlights.Now, when you do lighten shadows to this extent, you sometimesget this kind of a chalky look in the dark areas.To try to correct that, I'm going to increase the midtone contrast.Keep your eye on the building as I drag midtone contrast to the right.And that just crisps things up on the building.I'll click OK to apply these changes to the background copy layer.And that's how to use shadows highlights to even outthe tones in a back lit photo like this one.

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Author

Released

11/7/2013

In this course, author Jan Kabili introduces the photo organizing, editing, and sharing features of Adobe Photoshop Elements 12, the less expensive version of Photoshop that is ideal for casual photographers who want to achieve professional results. First, Jan covers importing, organizing, and finding photos with the Organizer. Then she explains how and when to use each of the editing workspaces—from Quick Edit to Expert Edit—and make color corrections, retouch blemishes, composite images, and more. The final chapter offers creative ways to share photos with Elements, including print projects like greeting cards, calendars, and books; email photos; and post them on Facebook and Flickr.